A number of protocols have been developed to enable auto-configuration and dynamic service provisioning of customer premises equipment (CPE) by network service providers. For example, Technical Report TR-069 of the DSL Forum, entitled “CPE WAN Management Protocol” (May, 2004), describes a protocol for communication between a CPE and an auto-configuration server (ACS) in the Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) access environment. This protocol allows an ACS to provision a CPE at the time of initial connection of the CPE to the broadband network and to re-provision the CPE at any subsequent time. The CPE WAN management protocol operates at the application layer over a TCP/IP-based protocol stack.
For Ethernet-based access networks, Technical Specification MEF 16 of the Metro Ethernet Forum, entitled “Ethernet Local Management Interface (E-LMI)” (January, 2006), which is incorporated herein by reference, describes procedures and a protocol for enabling auto-configuration of customer edge (CE) equipment. The E-LMI protocol is used by the CE to request and receive status and service attribute information from the Metro Ethernet Network (MEN), so that it can configure itself to access Metro Ethernet services. E-LMI messages are encapsulated inside Ethernet frames using a framing structure and message format provided by the specification.
The present invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of the embodiments thereof, taken together with the drawings in which: